Jalen Smith news, highlights and other discussion

[Wilber85]

If Smith is not slated for the back up backup minutes.... then who do we go after?

We are woefully undersized once Ayton sits, and, IMO, our Achilles Heel is DA getting in foul trouble....Or worse.

Guess I’m jealous of LA rumoring intentions of getting Whiteside. They randomly shop the league every yr around this time.

But there are some soso bigs looking for work.

Would a behaving Boogie be an asset in a 7 gamer? Is Dedmond such a tool he squanders his nba career? Can a resurrected post pubescent Bender be the Kukoc we wanted? Has John Henson softly retired? Who else is out there? We have little to offer in a trade other than Carter and a pick ...

Upgrading the ousted Jones will likely fall into Smith’s lap.... but James has been somewhat sneaky in his acquisitions. If we had a true back up C, we could slide Dario into the starting 5. But, it ain’t broke.....

Just seems wrong not to try for an upgrade as I have a hard time adopting the ‘In Shank we Trust’ mantra. Guess it is working tho, eh Grump?

Noah Vonleh

[Wilber85]

Thank you for stating this. I feel a lot better about this pick now.

You are welcome. This guy won't become anything. Mo Bamba has way more potential and he is trash

Im the dude who got roasted during the great Okobo/Melton debate, for saying that they were both flaming garbage cans. The fact that the dude is a rookie on a currently great vet team, not being forced into action, 6 "10 with a decent stroke, decent feet and can only get stronger. I am not ready to deem him anything yet. I like the fact that when I see watch his G league games, I like some of the things I see. He has good feet, he fights for rebounds (pushing, pulling and side stepping instead of just standing behind people), and he is not afraid to shoot the mid-range or the three. With the advantageous position that he is in on a good team, he will not be hard judged until next year after PLENTY of time to develop and get stronger.

He has looked like flaming garbage cans in G league

[Saberestar]

If Smith is not slated for the back up backup minutes.... then who do we go after?

We are woefully undersized once Ayton sits, and, IMO, our Achilles Heel is DA getting in foul trouble....Or worse.

Guess I’m jealous of LA rumoring intentions of getting Whiteside. They randomly shop the league every yr around this time.

But there are some soso bigs looking for work.

Would a behaving Boogie be an asset in a 7 gamer? Is Dedmond such a tool he squanders his nba career? Can a resurrected post pubescent Bender be the Kukoc we wanted? Has John Henson softly retired? Who else is out there? We have little to offer in a trade other than Carter and a pick ...

Upgrading the ousted Jones will likely fall into Smith’s lap.... but James has been somewhat sneaky in his acquisitions. If we had a true back up C, we could slide Dario into the starting 5. But, it ain’t broke.....

Just seems wrong not to try for an upgrade as I have a hard time adopting the ‘In Shank we Trust’ mantra. Guess it is working tho, eh Grump?

What about Ersan Ilyasova?

I know that he is training and waiting for an NBA call. He is 33 and last year he played OK.

He is not a true C, but he can play exactly the same role that Saric and Kaminsky are playing for the Suns. He would be an insurance for injuries.

[Keith_myath]

Smith is the only other guy on the list who can play above the rim... if given the opportunity.

Frank and Darko are about athletic as a Ethan Suplee during his My Name is Earl days.

[Qwigglez]

If Smith is not slated for the back up backup minutes.... then who do we go after?

We are woefully undersized once Ayton sits, and, IMO, our Achilles Heel is DA getting in foul trouble....Or worse.

Guess I’m jealous of LA rumoring intentions of getting Whiteside. They randomly shop the league every yr around this time.

But there are some soso bigs looking for work.

Would a behaving Boogie be an asset in a 7 gamer? Is Dedmond such a tool he squanders his nba career? Can a resurrected post pubescent Bender be the Kukoc we wanted? Has John Henson softly retired? Who else is out there? We have little to offer in a trade other than Carter and a pick ...

Upgrading the ousted Jones will likely fall into Smith’s lap.... but James has been somewhat sneaky in his acquisitions. If we had a true back up C, we could slide Dario into the starting 5. But, it ain’t broke.....

Just seems wrong not to try for an upgrade as I have a hard time adopting the ‘In Shank we Trust’ mantra. Guess it is working tho, eh Grump?

Javale McGee would be my target if he got bought out or waived. I'm hoping Whiteside goes back to the Blazers and not to the Lakers. Though I could see Whiteside getting some 30 minutes a game and being a huge game changer for them.

[Barkley6]

Jalen Smith is trash. What a waste of a pick! The one thing the Suns need to do is bring in Talent Scouts, that can help out with the draft. We have the worst Talent Scouts in the league for viewing potential rookies.

Cam Johnson worked out pretty well.

[Barkley6]

If Smith is not slated for the back up backup minutes.... then who do we go after?

We are woefully undersized once Ayton sits, and, IMO, our Achilles Heel is DA getting in foul trouble....Or worse.

Guess I’m jealous of LA rumoring intentions of getting Whiteside. They randomly shop the league every yr around this time.

But there are some soso bigs looking for work.

Would a behaving Boogie be an asset in a 7 gamer? Is Dedmond such a tool he squanders his nba career? Can a resurrected post pubescent Bender be the Kukoc we wanted? Has John Henson softly retired? Who else is out there? We have little to offer in a trade other than Carter and a pick ...

Upgrading the ousted Jones will likely fall into Smith’s lap.... but James has been somewhat sneaky in his acquisitions. If we had a true back up C, we could slide Dario into the starting 5. But, it ain’t broke.....

Just seems wrong not to try for an upgrade as I have a hard time adopting the ‘In Shank we Trust’ mantra. Guess it is working tho, eh Grump?

Boogie is an asset, but would he be happy getting fairly limited backup minutes?
Dedmon? He's serviceable, but if no one has picked him up yet....I'm wary. He's been a FA since November. Why is he still available in February?
Bender is interesting if only for the fact that he's still only 22, but I just don't see him becoming NBA caliber.

It's a weird situation that we're in, where we WANT an upgrade to our bigs, but they have to be JUST the right fit because Frank, Crowder, and Saric have all earned playing time.

[Frank Lee]

Upgrading Shank shouldn’t be a problem. Get a center and let Saric go back to PF. Right now, we have two PFs in Saric, Shank and may be a skinny GLeaguer. ... (Shank was one injury to Dario from playing in China) Crowder and CamJo are tweeners. We have probs with athletic front lines.

Teams in the hunt will be making mid season adjustments. Ie Lowery to the Clips?. Whiteside to the fLakes?.
What’s our move ? Promoting JSmith?

Let’s do some GMing Jonesy. Standing pat and hoping DA monsters up is a long shot.

The tiny window is open.

[suns12345]

Upgrading Shank shouldn’t be a problem. Get a center and let Saric go back to PF. Right now, we have two PFs in Saric, Shank and may be a skinny GLeaguer. ... (Shank was one injury to Dario from playing in China) Crowder and CamJo are tweeners. We have probs with athletic front lines.

Teams in the hunt will be making mid season adjustments. Ie Lowery to the Clips?. Whiteside to the fLakes?.
What’s our move ? Promoting JSmith?

Let’s do some GMing Jonesy. Standing pat and hoping DA monsters up is a long shot.

The tiny window is open.

I like Saric at centre in this league right now.

Shank or another 7 fter is nice to have in case the opponent has a big centre coming off the bench.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

https://gleague.nba.com/games/20210226/ACCFWN/

The AC Clippers almost won a game after really struggling over the last several. The key, it seems, was to remove Jalen (who's been missing a whole lot of shots) from the rotation.

I'm not hitting the panic button or anything, but it ain't lookin' great for my man right now.

[LV-Suns]

Collecting DNPs in Gleague on the Clippers Gleague team because they don’t care for his development. Would have been nice if we had our own gleague team. Still makes no sense why Sarver sold the team, but a typical Sarver move.

[Saberestar]

https://gleague.nba.com/games/20210226/ACCFWN/

The AC Clippers almost won a game after really struggling over the last several. The key, it seems, was to remove Jalen (who's been missing a whole lot of shots) from the rotation.

I'm not hitting the panic button or anything, but it ain't lookin' great for my man right now.

He has been recalled by the Suns, that is why he did not play.

Read on Twitter

[Saberestar]

Collecting DNPs in Gleague on the Clippers Gleague team because they don’t care for his development. Would have been nice if we had our own gleague team. Still makes no sense why Sarver sold the team, but a typical Sarver move.

He did not play because he is again with the Suns.

[Adrao]

Is Jalen part of the team again to replace Jones?

[bwgood77]

Is Jalen part of the team again to replace Jones?

Looks like he's part of the team but we still have a roster spot open because of Jones' release...

So could look at Dedmon, John Henson, Tyson Chandler or JaVale McGee if he gets bought out.

Or we could look at some of the guys killing it in the G league....

I decided to pull up stats and look at the top rebounders. Look at Jarred Uthoff's stats.

19 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.4 spg, 1.1 bpg, 36.7% from 3 on 5.5 attempts per game. He has bounced around on 10 day contracts the last few years..last on the Pelicans in late December.

Then there is Christ Koumadje, who is averaging over 4 blocks per game, along with 11 ppg and 11 rpg.

You also see familiar names like Ivan Rabb, high on the list...and then Naz Reid is on there, but he signed with Minnesota and actually is playing well...I noticed how good his stats are in fantasy.

https://basketball.realgm.com/dleague/stats/2020/Averages/Qualified/trb/All/desc/1/Regular_Season

[Saberestar]

Is Jalen part of the team again to replace Jones?

Looks like he's part of the team but we still have a roster spot open because of Jones' release...

So could look at Dedmon, John Henson, Tyson Chandler or JaVale McGee if he gets bought out.

Tyson Chandler is not retired?

I would get mad if we sign him even as a 15th man. He was already done two years ago...imaging him now.

[bwgood77]

Is Jalen part of the team again to replace Jones?

Looks like he's part of the team but we still have a roster spot open because of Jones' release...

So could look at Dedmon, John Henson, Tyson Chandler or JaVale McGee if he gets bought out.

Tyson Chandler is not retired?

I would get mad if we sign him even as a 15th man. He was already done two years ago...imaging him now.

I only mentioned him because I saw he was mentioned on a Lakers list of possibilities. I doubt he'd play for us anyway and I don't know how much I'd like it, but he'd certainly be better than Jones was.

[Barkley6]

I think JaVale McGee is the move, if he is indeed on the market.

A few reasons I like McGee:

1. He's got true size at 7ft, 260. That's the kind of body you want Ayton banging with in practice and the type of size you want at the C position.

2. He's not going to expect big minutes, he's only playing 15mpg with the Cavs (and has averaged only 17mpg for his career)and could probably expect similar here, he's not some former star or starter who is going to upset chemistry, he's a role player and he knows it.

3. In his 15mpg this year, dude is hooping pretty well. 7 points, 5 boards and 1.2 blocks in those minutes. His efficiency is not good this season, but for his career he shoots 57% so I'm not overly concerned. He also gives us a legit rim protector when Ayton sits, which we have sorely missed.

4. He's a tough vet who's been around the league a little and has been on 3 championship teams. He knows how to win and will be a good veteran presence.

[Saberestar]

Nice read about Jalen Smith:

The unique challenges could easily overwhelm Smith, who has found success throughout his basketball career. But he has been conditioned to push through scenarios like these, not shy away from them.

“I’m not worried about that, because I know how good of a player I am, and the coaching staff and the organization know how good of a player I am,” Smith said. “It’s just a matter of time for me to put it all together and get it all clicking and be able to continue to put it on the court.”

“I’m actually a bit tougher on him because I know he can be a good player and he didn’t get that time,” Williams said when Smith returned from his positive COVID-19 test. “So there are times in practice where I think he might feel a bit picked on, but I think I owe it to him because it is the worst time to be a rookie in this league. And for me it’s like, the talent that he has and the ability he has, we’re just trying to throw it all at him so he can get it. “

Smith invites Williams’ approach.

“The way Monty coaches, he says that when he gets on you he’s not calling you out, he’s calling you up,” Smith said. “And that’s pretty much, I guess you would say, putting you up to the challenge. And it’s pretty much an everyday thing to me because I’m still learning, I’m still trying to get adjusted to the team and the playstyle and still trying to find my role. Every day is just something new.”

https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2021/04/13/suns-rookie-jalen-smith-making-every-day-count-throughout-season/

[RunDogGun]

You are welcome. This guy won't become anything. Mo Bamba has way more potential and he is trash

Im the dude who got roasted during the great Okobo/Melton debate, for saying that they were both flaming garbage cans. The fact that the dude is a rookie on a currently great vet team, not being forced into action, 6 "10 with a decent stroke, decent feet and can only get stronger. I am not ready to deem him anything yet. I like the fact that when I see watch his G league games, I like some of the things I see. He has good feet, he fights for rebounds (pushing, pulling and side stepping instead of just standing behind people), and he is not afraid to shoot the mid-range or the three. With the advantageous position that he is in on a good team, he will not be hard judged until next year after PLENTY of time to develop and get stronger.

He has looked like flaming garbage cans in G league

Has he? Or has he just gotten garbage minutes on a team that already has their squad set up, and just aren't putting any effort in developing a rookie from a team not affiliated with their corresponding NBA team?